A big welcome back to our Gems pupils and families. We trust you have had a restful break. As we await the arrival of Spring (despite this rain!) we will be exploring colours and textures and preparing pupils for the change in season. This will include us looking at how our clothes will change and how the day and night will be different at certain times. In phonics we have been learning/ recapping the sound ‘U’. (Please see photo below). We enjoyed learning this through a sensory phonics activity which allowed us to get messy and learn at the same time. We are also progressing well with our speed sounds, and we continue to be pleased with how our pupils recognise more letters around the building and make links to other work. At the same time, we are starting to explore superheroes and superpowers which we know that Gems class will really enjoy. For the next two weeks we will be looking at Superheroes Don’t Get Scared. If you have this book at home, it would be fantastic if you could support pupils with their understanding of it.

Please start to think about World Book Day costumes on Friday 8th March.

Please continue Phonics work at home if you can. But please rest assured, there is no expectation to know all phonics. All pupils are on a journey, and we want them to work at the pace that suits them. We find that LittleBig Foxes, Number Blocks and RWI songs on their websites are a great source of fun and education. 

Key messages

• If the weather continues to be wet, please ensure a change of clothes. We do everything we can to keep pupils away from puddles but as you can understand, they are very enticing.

• Please practise writing and saying the set 1 sounds at home, using the phonics website by Ruth Miskin to help you. 

• Pick up time for Gems pupils is 3pm. Please try to be prompt so we can maximise the time we have to set up for the next day’s learning.

• Please ensure that you have notified the school if you are going to be late. As we are a separate building, I call the office to say who is present at 8.45. We are usually aware if the traffic is problematic, but it does help if the office knows in advance, and they can adjust the register accordingly.